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Demonstrating outstanding teaching and
learning through AfL in the classroom
Paul Spenceley
Who is Paul Spenceley?
1998 KMOFAP at Kings - 3 year intensive project looking at how AfL can actually work in science and maths classrooms.
Lead to the production of ‘Working Inside The Black Box’ - Black, Wiliam, Harrison, et al.
Conferences in England and Scotland.
The teacher representative on the DFES AfL working group.
Filmed by the BBC.
Visitors from Ireland and USA.
Invited to Buckingham Palace.
WHY?
Unlike all other initiatives AfL works!
What is formative assessment?
Assessment is formative when the
evidence about student achievement is used to make decisions about the next steps in the learning of the student which are better than the decisions would have been in the absence of the assessment.
(D. Wiliam 2009)
How good are schools at AfL?
• Sustained, consistent and well understood assessment principles and practices had a demonstrable impact on pupils’ achievement.
• Assessment for Learning was better developed and more effective in the primary schools visited than in the secondary schools.
• The drawing together of learning during lessons and opportunities for pupils to assess their own work and that of their peers were still rare and not always effective. However, they were key features of the most successful lessons.
• Despite more regular assessment and monitoring of progress in the secondary schools, teachers rarely pitched work precisely enough to students’ understanding and prior learning.
Assessment for Learning: the impact of National Strategy support – Oct 2008
What do OFSTED want to see in lessons
• The most important role of the teacher is to raise attainment.
• Teachers expectations should be sufficiently high to extend previous knowledge, skills and understanding.
• Well-judged teaching strategies, including setting challenging tasks matched to pupils specific learning needs.
• How well pupils understand how to improve their learning as a result of frequent, detailed and accurate feedback from teachers following Assessment for Learning.
• Pace and depth of learning are maximised as a result of teachers’ monitoring of learning during lessons and any consequent action in response to pupils feedback.
What does this mean for teachers?
• Student and teacher become more aware of where they are ‘at the start’.
• Student and teacher become more aware of where they are ‘aiming to get to’.
• Student and teacher know what needs to be done to ‘close the gap’ between the above two.
Is AfL something else to ‘add’ to lessons?
• Formative assessment does NOT mean more work – it’s a way of teaching.
• Plan what students need to learn, NOT what you want to teach.
• Comment on what students need to know NOT what you want to say.
• Assessment for students benefit too, NOT just for teachers.
Key areas of classroom AfL
• Improving verbal questioning • Formative use of summative tests • Comment only marking • Self and peer assessment
What makes questioning ‘formative’?
• Thought-provoking questions to create discussions.
• Make use of wrong answers to
discover misconceptions.
• Increase ‘Wait times’.
• Involve more students by passing answers on to another student.
• A positive atmosphere where
‘being wrong’ is only a way forward.
• What are the ends of a magnet called?
• Do arteries or veins have valves in them?
• Steven said ‘Atoms or molecules’. Which one of these is correct?
• What might happen if we cut a magnet in half?
• Why would veins have valves but arteries do not?
• Explain why it might make a difference if Steven uses either ‘atom’ or ‘molecule’ in his answer.
What is a good formative question?
is did can would will might
Why
How
When
Where
What
Who
The Q Matrix
A good AfL discussion needs…
• Questions (and potential answers) planned in advance.
• To inform the teacher of any problems or misunderstandings, so the lesson or future lessons can be adapted accordingly.
• To involve most of the students in a meaningful way.
Verbal techniques
• Tell students discussion is important for work that follows. Remind them during discussion.
• Tell students what you want them to get out of the discussion.
• Question aimed at certain group: Those not answered so far, birthday in June, target of A, arrive on bus, etc.
• Can you add to…
• Can you explain what she meant by…
• What do you think about…
• What word/phrase could she use in place of…
• Which answer included…
• How else might she have described/explained…
• Do you agree with… why?
• If there were X marks for this question what else might be added?
• Could you make a counter argument for…
• Who made the best explanation of…
• What did she say in her answer which you think would gain/lose marks in the exam?
Non-verbal clues
• Leave more thinking time - seconds!
• Allow students time to discuss first.
• Keep quiet after an answer.
• Move slightly towards student.
• Let gaze stay on student.
• No hands up.
Can ‘tests’ be formative too?
• Self assessed revision for tests.
• Self assessed appraisal of tests.
• Formative marking of tests.
• Planning improvements.
Revising smarter NOT harder
Don’t need to spend much time revising– often the parts students spend longest on
Need serious help with this– students often struggle for ages with limited success
These are the parts needing most revision– usually the parts students neglect most
After the ‘test’
• Traffic light ‘confidence’ with answers or estimate marks for each question.
• Self and peer assessment!
• Analyse how marks were lost.
• Time for review and improvement.
Marking without a mark scheme!
What next?
• PMI – Plus, Minus, Interesting - Based on knowledge, but also other examination skills. • FIP – First Important Priorities – Based on knowledge and other examination skills. • Keep records of two greatest skill problems.
Addressing the issues • ONLY formative IF time is made available to deal with issues. • Eg. Re-write questions with C – clarity and precision – without ‘it’, ‘them’, ‘they’ or with more carefully chosen terminology. • Support sessions for exam skills, not just knowledge. • Vodcasts on learning platform for skills.
Formative feedback
Or why do I spend so much
time marking?
With all feedback
• Do be precise with what you say.
• Do link any feedback to the learning objectives.
• Don’t be too vague.
• Don’t use gratuitous praise.
• Don’t give feedback unless it’s necessary.
Comment only marking is not…
• Just ‘leaving off’ the marks or effort grades. • An excuse to not have to keep a mark book! • A lot more work – although it may take
some getting used to.
The bad the worse and the ugly
• More details needed in your answers.
• Homework not given enough care.
• You can do much better than this.
• You have clearly understood most of this work.
• Well done and very neat too.
• Poorly presented.
• More effort needed.
Effective feedback
• Your answer to the longer answer questions showed a clear understanding of the learning objectives. Well done Vicky! A colour coded flow map showing the stages in setting up a small business would be easier for you to revise.
• You seem confident conjugating with être in the
present tense but you still seem confused with the past and future tenses Gary. Look at examples 3 and 4 and see if you can work out how they differ. Now apply this to example 6 that you attempted for homework.
• While you can describe how it occurs, you still don’t
seem to understand why neutralisation is important Jenny, use BBC Bitesize to do some revision on it, then see me for another past question example.
Comment only marking should be…
• Linked to learning objectives.
• Clear about what has been done well by the student.
• Clear about what still needs to be improved.
• Clear about how to make that improvement.
• Something which makes the student think.
Not just in science
PE – Using similar letters for exam skills, and peer/self assessment of practical skills assessments. Psychology – getting their TEETH into essays! Maths – marking without a mark scheme.
Planning for learning rather than teaching
• Start with learning objectives. • Plan plenary/plenaries to measure the learning. • THEN starter and tasks required to provide the route to the plenary.
The end
